Means for attaching handles to door latches



'Patent edAug -l8,1925." r

LEON orrrnenn, on NEW Fiona, M. Y.

MEANS FOR ATTACHING HANDLES T DOOR LATGHES.

Application filed June 26, 1920. Serial No. 391,887.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, LEON O'rrINoER, a

i I citizen of the United States, anda resident of automo' ile doors.

ofthe cit of NewYork, in the county and State of I Attaching Handles to Door Latches, of which the following is "a description.

This invention relates to an improved means for attaching handles to door latches, and more articularly to the latches or looks It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a means for the attachment of'such latch handles which will permit of the complete finishing of the door with the latch applied thereto and the uph'olstery on the inner side of the door cover ing the latch casing without necessitating ,the detachment or lifting ,of the upholstery v-ior the purpose of properly attaching'the handle'tothe latch. To this end I have de- .ta'ched to" the latch part.

' In oneembodiment of apractical means I dle, wherein vised a means for the attachment of the hanthe handle is initially inserted through an opening in the door from the outer side thereof, and positioned for operative connection to. a part of the latch mechanism, and an opening is then cut in the upholstery on the inner side of the door to admit of the application of means whereby the handle will be rigidly and permanently atfor carry'in out thepurposes of the present invention have cient means for e 'ectiiigah adjustable and separable operative connection between the shank ofjth'e operating-handle and the part i 40f the latchimechanism' which actuates thelatch bolt. ,gnTh-is feature of the invention, which Ishafll herein describe in detail, serves to insure the properfittingand connection of the ,handle with the latch regardless of mechanical irregularities in the, construction of the parts, as may be incident to the mode of manufacture thereof, so that the proper functioning of the parts will-be assured.

In general it is the aim and object of the present improvement to provide a means for the attachment of handles to door latches or locks which will enable such attachment to made w great ease and facility and c no f time,

ew York, have invented certain *new and useful Improvements in Means for rovided simple-and eflidinal section of the handle .With the above and other objects in View,

the invention consists in the several steps of the improved method to be subsequently set forth in detail, and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several. parts included in the illustrated embodiment of the means for effecting the attachment, as will also be hereinafter more fully explained, and said means then subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings, wherein I have illustrated one adaptation of the invention, and wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the sev- V eral views:

Figure'l is a horizontal sectional view through a part of an automobile door, to which the latch is attached, showin the upliiolstery in place on the linnerside of the cor.

for

han le for connection to the latch part, an

Figure 2 is a'similar view showing means- (positioning the shank of the operating the means for forming the opening in the upholstery of the door.

Fi ure 3 is .a detail elevation of inem er for the cutting tool. t Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view similar to Figure 1, showing the means for g thefinal permanent attachment of the handle to the latch.

the pilot Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the inner slde of the door with the handle vattached thereto.

Figure 6 is a detail fragmentary longitushank. Figure 7 is an end elevation thereof.

Figure 8 is a detail elevation of the ex gansion screw for expanding the end of the andle shank.

Figure 9'. is an enlarged sectional view more clearly illustratin the means for attaching the handle to t e roll back of the latch mechanism, and, r

Figure 10 is a similar view illustrating another application of the handle shank to the roll back.

Referring-in detail to the drawings, the latch, generally indicated at 20, is secured in a recess 21, formed in the inner side of the door frame 22. 'As herein illustrated,

the latch mechanism includes a roll back 23 for the operation of the latch bolt. This form and in coaxial relation with the passage 24 through the roll back 23, but of ap- Billroll back is provided with a square or rectangular passage or opening 24 therethrough, which is gradually tapered or of decreasing area from one end to the other of the roll back. The roll back is mounted for oscillatory rotating movement in the opposite side plates of the latch casing.

An opening 25 is bored through the door frame 22 from the outer side thereof to the recess 21, said opening being of circular preciably greater diameter than said opening. The wall,of this opening 25 at its ,outer"end,'is screw-threaded, as at 26, and abearing bushing 27 1s screwed tl16I'8lIl,' said bushing having a flange 28 at its outer end to engage against the sheet metal GOV", ering or sheath 29 on the rear face of the door. The bushing is further provided in its end with an annular recess 30.

.Preferably the opening 25 through the door frame is produced in accordance with the disclosure in my co-pending application for patent on means for forming handle holes in doors or the like, Serial No. 391,886, filed June 26, 1920, and is particularly .desirable in cases of this kind where great exactness is an essential requisite to the proper fitting of the latch handle, as the invention disclosed in said application will operate to produce an opening-through the door framein exact concentric and axial alignment with the passagethrough the roll back.

After the latch haslbeen applied to the door frame, and the opening 25 provided therein, the" upholstery; material 31. is applied to the inner face .of the door, and is secured. thereto by means of suitable tacks indicated at '32. This upholstery material completely covers the latch casing, and extends over the end of the roll back 23.

The handle for the operation of the latch mechanism includes a flanged hub portion 33, an angularly extending lever or other equivalent manipulating portion 34, and a rectan lar shank portion 35 secured to the hu "33 or integrally formed therewith, amg extending in coaxial relation with said hu In the manufacture of such door latches the roll backs are produced from cast metal,

the handle and the roll back results when tional area than the opening through the roll back, so that said shank ma be readily inserted within said opening. he facility with which the shank of the handle may be. positioned with respect to the roll back is Y furthered by the fact that the bushing 27 is in exact axial alignment with the opening 25 through the door and the opening 24 through the roll back. The handle shank is of such length that when fully inserted it will projectslightly beyond the end face I of the roll back, The. end portion of the shank 35 extending through the opening in the roll back is longitudinally split at diametrically opposite points, as shown at 35, said splits extending radially with' respect to the axial center of said shank. This split end portion of the shank 35 is formed with an axial bore 36, whichextends slightly inward of the inner ends of the lit shank portions, and is screwthrea ed. The outer end of this bore 36 is formed with a flaring or conical smooth surface to provide a seat 37' for the tapering orconical portion 39' of the expansion "screw 38. At the larger end of the conical portion 39 of said screw a cylindrical portion 40 is provided, having a head or flange 41. A diametrically extending groove 42 is formed in the end face of this head for the application of a screw driver thereto.

The handle is operatively attached to the latch mechanism in theifollowing manner: Assuming that the door has been completed or finished,-with the latch applied thereto, as shown in Figure 1, I firsttemporarily attach a pilot member 54 to the split endof the handle shank 35. This member 54 is formed at one end with a sharply pointed prong, and is provided at its other end with a split shank 55. This shank or base portion is adapted to be forced into the bore 36 in the end of the handle shank, so as to become detachably wedged therein. The shank 35 with the pilot member attached, is now inserted through the'opening 25 in the door frame, the hub portion 33 fittin within the bushing 27, while the split on of the shank enters the passage 24 in the roll back. Of course, as the handle shank is moved into said passage 24, an opening will be cut through the upholstery material 31 by. the pointed end of the pilot member 54, and said member will protrude beyond the inner face new,

of the door. This penetration of the pilot member through the upholstery material I have indicated at 43 in Figure 2 of the drawings. There is now applied a rotaryv cutting tool 45 upon the protruding pilot member 54, said cutting member including 7 a cylinder body having a shank 44 at one end and soup-shaped cutting flange 46 at its opposite-end. The body of the cutter is provided with an axially extending bore 47 to receive the projectin end of the pilot 'member 54.- Thus itlwill be apparent that this member serves to accurately center the I cutting tool, so that its axis of rotation is in exact axial relation with the handle shank 35. The tool 45' is now operated to cut a circular disc from the upholstery material 31, thereby producing the opening 43 therein, which is: concentrically related to the rollback. The pilot member 54 may now be readily withdrawn and detached from connection, with the handle shank without first requiring the removal of the handle.

The next and final step in the method of assemblage of the handle to the roll back is to effect the permanent operative connection between the parts. For this purpose I first assemble the expansion screw 38 in connection with a face plate or disc48, which is of greater diameter than the opening 43 throughthe upholstery, said face plate be- 1 1 ing centrally provided with the opening 49, 1 in which the cylindrical portion of the screw ,isfloosely engaged. The plate 48 is further formed with the annular recess 50 to receive the head 41 of the screw. The

face plate 48 is placedin position over the opening 43in the upholstery with the exing in said plate; ;This screw enters. the

bore 36 in the split end of the shank 35,.and,

as the screw is threaded inwardly into said bore, the conical portion 39' of said screw is brought into engagement upon the seat I ing surface 37, whereby "the split end por--; tions: of the shank .35 are expandedin ra dial directions, an cl'fare urged into tight; frictional. gripping. engagement with the kwalllis of the passage 24 through] the roll ac. x ltywill be noted that each split portion/ 4 of the shank has langularlylj related exterior the screw .is

faces, which are caused .to frictionally con-j tact throughout jtheir-area, "with the ofposcd angu ar surfaces at the corners of t e. opening 24 in the roll back. Accordingly" it will a be appreciated that all possibility of relative axial movement between the handle shank and the roll back will be precluded, so that the proper operation of the roll back and the functionin Y of the latch mechanism is assured. en this final gripping action takes place, the flange or head 41 on I ooaely in the annular recesstq ofitheplate 48,'but does notbind see a against said plate, so that the screw is perfectly free to turnor rotate with the handle shank with relation; to the face plate. This face plate provides a complete closure for the opening, 43 formed in the upholstery, and does not detract from the artistic appearance of ,the upholstery or finish on'the inner side of the door.

As clearly shown in Figure 9 of the drawings, when the split end of the handle shank is expanded, as just explained, said shank will substantially conform precisely with the tapering opening or passage through the roll back, when the larger end of said opening faces towards the inner side of the door, thus resulting: in a wedge connection bethe shank 35 is of such length that in its ap-- tween the parts. However, as above noted,

plied positionit projects slightly beyond the end face of the roll back, so that when the roll back is disposed in the position seen in Figure 10, with the smaller end of the opening'therethrough facing towards the inner may the attachment-be elfected'in a more facile manner, and with considerably less labor than heretofore, but the attachment will be mechanically perfect, since itadmits 1 of an accurately adjusted connection between the-handle shank and the roll back, I

so that such connection need be neither too tight nor too loose. Accordingly the proper functioning of the parts under all conditions of service will be obtained, and in particular, the roll back may, at all times,

freelturn u on its bearings. without binding in the shghtest de ree. I have found thls means for the attac ment of the handle to be'particularly desirable in that type of latch used upon automobile doors, as disclosed, for instance, many prior U. S. Pat- 'cnt No, 1,312,199, patented Aug: 5, 1919, in

which the roll back is normally held by means of a spring, the rbper functionin of which would be 'retar ed, if not rendere' im ossible by a binding roll back or thehandle s ank.

In the, foregoing description and the accompanying drawm I have illustrated one desirable and invention, but it will, nevertheless, be understood that both the method and means for the attachment of the handle ma be successfully adapted and applied in ot er alteraction upon the ractical embodiment of the nativeembodiments, and I,' therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such changes and modifications as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the ried by. said door having a rollback provided with an opening. an operating spindle for said rollback having an expansible end portion fitted through said opening, upholstery extending over one face of the door and having an opening therein at one end of said rollback, a member for expanding the end of the spindle against the wall of the opening in said rollback, and a closure for the opening in said upholstery rotatably engaged by said member.

3. The combination with a door, a latch casing secured in the door and having a roll back therein with an opening therethrough,

upholstery secured to the inner side of said door and having an opening therein at one end of the roll-back, a washer fitting over the opening in the upholstery, a spindle projecting through the door and having a split end entering the opening in said roll-back, and 'a'member for entering said split end of the spindle and acting to expand the same against the wall of the opening in said rollback, said member also acting to hold said washer in place. Y

4. In combination with a door, a latch casing secured in the door and having a rollback therein with a tapered opening, upholstery secured to the inner side of said door and having an openingtherein at one end of the roll-back, means to cover said opening, said door having an opening extending in alinement with the opening in said rollback, a bushing in the outer side of the opening in said door, an operating spindle journaled in said bushing and having a socketfixing the spindle within the roll ed and split end engaging loosely through the tapering qpening in said roll-back, the inner portion of said socketed end of the spindle being interiorly threaded and the outer portion thereof having a conical wall, and a bolt threaded into the threads in said socket and having a conicalouter portion adapted to expand the split part of said spindle, said bolt having a head to bear against said means for covering the opening in the upholstery.

' 5. In combination with a door, a latch carried by said door having a rollback provided with an opening, an operating spindle having an end portion fitted through the opening in the rollback, upholstery secured from one face of the door and having an opening therein at one end of said rollback, a closure for said opening, and a common means for rigidly securing said spindle in the opening of the rollback and for retain- 7 ing said closure in its applied position.

6. The combination with a door having a latch applied to one side thereof, the latch including a rotatable roll back provided with an axially tapering opening, and the door being provided with an opening in alignment with the opening in the rollback and having upholstery material applied to the above-mentioned side of the door and covering the latch casing, said material having an opening therein to expose one end of the roll back, of an operating handle for the latch mechanism, having a shank adapted to be inserted and positioned in the opening in the roll back, a bearing for said handle, secured in one end of the opening in the door, the end of said shank being longitudinally split, and provided with a threaded bore, a washer plate adapted to be en-' gaged over the opening in the upholstery, and an expansion screw adapted to be threaded into the bore of the handle shank to expand the split end thereof, and frictionally engage the same with the walls of the opening through the roll back, said screw loosely coacting with said washer to close the opening in the upholstery.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name hereunder.

LEON ()TTINGER. 

